Trisha's real-life TV agony: I was sacked after beating cancer

DAYTIME television host Trisha Goddard had her show axed by Channel Five today.

The presenter told 85 staff at her company they would be made redundant because the show is being cancelled.

Channel Five said it had been forced into the move because of the economic downturn.

Goddard, 51, is in remission from breast cancer after a public battle with the disease. Her morning confessional talk show was in its fourth year and is scheduled to run until later this year. Five said it would not renew the contract when it lapses.

Dawn Airey, Five's chairwoman and chief executive, said: "It is with great sadness and regret that we've come to this conclusion, but in the present economic climate, it feels like the right time to go our separate ways.

"We are currently reviewing all our business practices and contracts and need to focus our resources on the most commercially critical parts of the schedule."

Goddard's staff were said to be devastated. A total of 85 full-time and part-time workers will go from Town House TV in Norwich and Maidstone. "I have enjoyed every minute of my time working for Five and I am naturally saddened they have taken the decision to end our association," Goddard said.

"I am particularly sorry for the fantastic crew and contributors who made the show and for the viewers who have supported us and given us wonderful feedback as we tackled issues that really affect their lives.

"People up and down the country are losing their jobs and their homes in the current recession so I don't feel sorry for myself. I will dust myself down and find new challenges to pursue. I have always believed that as one door closes another opens and I am looking forward to new and different challenges."

Goddard was told she had breast cancer in March last year after a routine mammogram. The former air stewardess was born in Hackney and grew up wrongly believing her mother's husband was her father.

She launched her TV career in Britain in 1998 after relocating from Australia. After a traumatic first marriage, she has been married to her third husband for 10 years and has two daughters.